Sharing the Burden
by jedimasterstar
Summary: No one really knew that Don Flack and Aaron Hotchner were related. It takes a tragedy to finally bring them back together.
1. Sharing the Burden

**This is my first outing of combining two fandoms. I hope you all enjoy it!**

**Did it for another lj prompt - this one was _Cemetery._**

**Summary:** Two brothers meet up in a cemetery and reminisce about lost love.

**Spoilers:** _CSI: NY _Season 5 finale – Season 6; after the Reaper arc in _Criminal Minds_

**Warning(s): **minor cursing

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Don Flack or Aaron Hotchner. They belong to their respective owners.

**A/N:** This story came about because of my mother. She watches these two shows with me and got it into her head that Flack and Hotch have to be related somehow since they looked so much alike. I agreed with her and this story came to my mind.

* * *

Sometimes Don Flack never knew where his brother would be half the time. But when he heard about Haley's death, he knew that he had to come visit. He felt bad for missing the funeral, but he sure wanted to at least see that Aaron was doing well. And to see his nephew – no visit would be complete without seeing Jack.

He arrived at Quantico and made his way to where the BAU was located. After checking in and taking the elevator up, he made it to the BAU floor and exited. Looking around for someone familiar, his gaze caught sight of David Rossi, the legendary BAU agent turned best-selling author. Aaron told him a while back that Rossi decided to come back from early retirement for unknown reasons; and had become a valuable asset to the team.

Apparently feeling that he was being watched, the older agent looked up and saw Flack staring at him. Recognition in his eyes, he entered the lobby and held out his hand. "David Rossi. You must be Don Flack," he greeted.

"That's me. How did you know that?" he asked.

Rossi smiled. "One – Hotch has mentioned you before. Two – even if hadn't, one could see the resemblance," he replied.

Flack nodded – people have mentioned that before. Before he could ask about Aaron, a short, pretty blonde walked up to them. "Rossi, have you seen Hotch?" she asked, coincidentally voicing the queation Flack was about to ask himself.

"I haven't seen him since this morning. JJ, may I introduced Don Flack of the NYPD?" he introduced as JJ turned to look at the New Yorker.

"NYPD? Another case?" she queried as she shook Flack's hand.

"No. Actually, I'm looking for my brother," replied Flack.

"Brother?" she asked again, confusion reigning down on her even more.

Flack gave her his winning smile and answered, "Yeah. Aaron."

_Now_ she was confused. "Hotch? I knew about Sean, but I didn't know that he had _another_ brother," she said.

"We don't really talk about each other. And not very many people know that we are brothers," he answered.

Before JJ could say anything else, Rossi interrupted with: "Did you try his apartment?" Seeing a nod from the younger man, he then said, "Then I can think of only one other place."

Realization dawned on Flack as he realized what the agent was talking about. Of course, Aaron could be there. "Thanks for the hint. I'll let you know if I find him," he said as he nodded his head and turned back toward the elevators, smiling as he heard the pretty blonde begin to interrogate Rossi.

* * *

Arriving at the cemetery, Flack looked at the plot placement board to see where Haley exactly was. He found it and walked toward it. Rossi's hunch proved true as Flack saw a figure sitting on a bench. Walking up behind him, he said, "You really enjoy playing hide and seek, don't ya?"

Hotch lifted up his head and he could see the pain in his blue eyes. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

His younger brother shrugged. "What? A brother can't visit his elder to see how he was doing?" he asked back as he took a seat on the bench next to him.

"I didn't mean it like that. I'm glad to see you, but…what _are _you doing in Virginia?" asked Hotch, rephrasing the question.

Flack sighed. "I heard about Haley. I'm sorry about that and for not making it to the funeral. I just wanted to see how you were holding up," he replied, leaning forward to look at her grave more closely.

"I should be asking you that same question," retorted the elder.

Flack sighed. Aaron came up after hearing about Angell and tried to help him out. Of course, it was right after he was attacked by Foyet, so that did not help much. "I'm doing better," he responded.

"Bullshit. That's not what Mac told me a few weeks ago," Hotch accused.

"Damn it. He told you about that," said the younger as he remembered his relapse. He got drunk one night and never showed up for work. After Mac found him at the apartment of one of his old informants, Flack had to face the terrible truth the Angell was indeed gone, but there were still people that loved and cared for him. So he finally sobered up and was currently trying to retake his life.

"Yeah, he did. I thought I was going to have to go up there and beat the crap out of you," Hotch said viscously. Flack shivered – and Hotch would have done it too.

"Well, I'm here now. Go for it," the younger man retorted as Hotch sent a glare his way. Flack just met him eye to eye.

Sighing, Hotch added, "Then I would have agreed with you." Seeing his brother's confused look, he continued: "I felt the same way after Foyet shot Haley. I was so angry and afraid that he was going to kill Jack that I beat him to death. But, I am glad I did. No family should have had to suffer at his hands again."

Flack nodded his head in agreement. "I did the same when Jen died. I will admit that I did kill the guy, but the others left it alone. Then I turned to alcohol. You heard how that turned out," he admitted.

Hotch laughed. "What a pair we are. Two men musing about past loves," he observed. "Angell would have wanted you to move on," he added.

"And Haley would've wanted you to do the same, too," observed Flack as he swung an arm around Hotch's shoulders.

Hotch wrapped an arm around Flack's shoulders in response and said, "How about we move on together? Be responsible for the other?"

"Why not? At least we'll know what the other is doing," he agreed. "Oh, before I forget, some blonde chick at your office was looking for you," he said.

"JJ," muttered Hotch as he got up. "Let's drop your car off at the apartment and you can come with me to the office," he said as Flack got up and began to follow him.

* * *

They arrived back at the office an hour later, laughing. "I still can't believe Danny's married _and _is a father," commented Hotch as they entered the bullpen. The team looked up to see the two brothers. "Hey Hotch, who's your friend?" asked Prentiss.

Before either man could answer, Rossi walked down the stairs, saying, "His brother, Don Flack."

"Brother?! Okay, there's Sean. Now there's Don?" asked Morgan, looking Flack up and down.

"Actually, there is quite a resemblance," commented Reid as he looked between the two.

The brothers looked at each before Hotch said, "Don's actually my half-brother. We have the same fathers."

"You know how it goes – Dad cheated on Aaron's mom with my mom, who in turned cheated on her husband. They both confessed later. But we never really saw each other until I was a teenager," continued Flack.

The team looked at each other before Morgan asked, "You staying around for awhile?"

"For two weeks at least. I want to visit my nephew while I'm here," answered Flack.

"And I'm taking that time off to spend time with him," added Hotch as he wandered to his office to call Strauss.

His team looked after him in shock. "Who is he and what happened to Hotch?" asked JJ.

"Big, mysterious, stubborn type?" asked Flack. The others nodded and he laughed. "Sounds like Aaron. He was like that when we were younger."

Before the team could question him further, Hotch came out and said, "Come on, Don. You'll have time to embarrass me later. Right now, a certain someone will want to see his Uncle Donnie." Hotch added a snicker after that.

Flack glared at him and retorted, "Don't even go there, man." Hotch gave his own winning smile and the team laughed.


	2. Noonday Conversations

**This is now going be a series of one-shots. This chapter is a bit weak, but I hope that you all enjoy it!**

**A/N:** This is for my crossovers100 table over LiveJournal.

**A/N2: **For those who are new to this, Flack and Hotch are half-brothers in my fics – starting with _Sharing the Burden_.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _CSI: NY_ or _Criminal Minds_. They belong to their own groupies.

**Summary:** Hotch got coerced into spending some time with his brother in New York. But Don has to finish a case. Can they at least have lunch?

* * *

Don got up at his usual time that morning. Though today was going to be good day – after this case is over, he is on vacation for a week with his older brother, who arrived last night. Aaron Hotchner, an FBI profiler, got himself coerced into spending the week with him – without Jack. His nephew was spending the week with Jessica, Haley's sister. Hotch was not too fond of the idea, but knew better than to argue. So, he packed up his bags and came to the Big Apple.

After taking his shower, Don cooked himself breakfast. "Hey, Aaron! I'm cooking breakfast! Want any?" he called. All he heard was a muffled sound. "Fine," he replied, "feel free to raid the fridge if you want. And you can come by the station later. We can get lunch if nothing's up." After getting another muffled reply, he sat down with his eggs and toast and ate as quickly as possible – he was already running late.

Cleaning his dishes up, he yelled, "See ya later!" And with that, he was gone.

* * *

It was around 10am when Hotch decided to make an appearance at the station. "Hey there, Sleeping Beauty," greeted Don as he accepted a cup of coffee. Hotch went to get coffee before he came over. "Got a good sleep?" he asked, gesturing to the chair on the other side of his desk.

"Better than normal," replied Hotch as he took a seat. Don knew that his older brother was having nightmares still, though they have not been in a while. "So, we still up for lunch?" asked Hotch.

Before he could answer, his phone rang. Sighing, he picked it up and answered, "Flack." He then listened for a moment before saying, "Okay, I'll be right up." As he hung up, he looked at Hotch and said, "Something came up with the case I'm on. Hawkes wants me up in the lab. Wanna come?" As his brother nodded, Don picked up his coat and went for the elevators, Hotch right behind him.

When they arrived on the 57th floor, Don said, "I shouldn't be long."

"It's alright. Take your time," reassured Hotch. As Don wandered off to find Hawkes, Hotch looked around at his surroundings. It has been a while since he had been here. Nothing had really changed – except employees. There were a few new faces in the department.

He was absorbed in his surroundings that he failed to hear someone walking up behind him. "Aren't you suppose to be on vacation?" he heard. Startled, he spun around to see a smiling Mac Taylor looking at him.

"It depends on how one defines 'vacation'," replied Hotch as he shook Mac's hand. The older man was one of the few he could depend on if he needed to. He did not his team to know some things and he knew that Mac would not tell Don a thing if Hotch asked him to. "Nice to see you, Mac."

"You too, Aaron," he greeted back. "How are you holding up?"

"As well as I can," he replied. He knew Mac would understand what he was saying. He was sure Don told him about what happened.

"And Jack?"

"Well enough. He's mostly quiet; but that is expected after what he went through," responded Hotch. Jack has been very quiet since the attack; but Hotch did not want to push him if he was not ready.

"That's good to hear," Mac said.

Before he could say anything else, though, a tall, curly haired brunette wandered over to them. "Mac, have you seen this yet?" Stella Bonasera asked, not noticing Hotch at first. "The cell count is…" she trailed off as she looked up and noticed the newcomer. "Aaron!" she greeted as she gave the man a hug. He and Stella had always gotten along – her warm and cheerful smile and attitude seemed to make him happy whenever he saw her.

"Hey, Stella," he greeted as he returned the hug.

"I didn't know you were in town," she accused as she gave him a playful swat on the arm.

He smiled, knowing that Mac and Don were never going to hear the end of it. "Really? I thought Don and Mac would have told everyone," he replied.

Slight fear came to Mac's eyes as Stella turned toward him. "You knew?" she asked.

"When Don told me that after the case he was on was complete, he was taking a week off," he replied.

Fortunately, he was saved from further interrogation with the arrival of Don. "Good news! Hawkes should have the DNA and plant results finished this afternoon. The case should be wrapped up this evening," he informed Hotch. He then yelped when Stella hit him in the arm. "What was that for?" he asked.

"For not telling me that Aaron was going to be in town," answered Stella as she glared at him.

He gulped and said, "Must've slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind, huh?" she repeated.

Deciding to save his brother, Hotch interrupted with, "Hate to break this up, but I'm starving. Don promised to take me to lunch."

Giving Hotch a look of appreciation, Don said, "Yes I did. If you'll excuse us…" He quickly led Hotch to the elevator, leaving Mac to handle Stella. "Thanks for that," he whispered.

"No problem," replied Hotch as they stepped into the elevator. "So…where are we going?" he asked as the doors closed.

* * *

They ended up at a local deli, a place Don knew from past visits. "You'll like the food," he told Hotch as they stood in line. "They have so many choices that you'll never get bored of it."

"Sounds good," said Hotch as they stepped up to the counter. He ordered a roast beef sandwich with the works while Don got a traditional philly cheese steak. As they found a table, Hotch asked, "So, your case is almost wrapped up?"

"Pretty much. We have an idea who did it but Hawkes is waiting on DNA and plant results just to be sure," Don answered as he bit into his sandwich. "So, how's the munchkin?" he asked, attempting to steer Hotch off his case.

"Good. He misses his Uncle Donnie, though," he replied with a smirk. Don hated to be called that, but he let it go.

"I'll have to come down sometime."

"Try around the holidays. He'll love that."

Don nodded in consideration and asked, "And you?"

"Alright," he replied. "The team has helped a lot, along with you."

"Nice to know I contribute to something," Don retorted. "Who coerced you into taking a vacation anyway? Emily? JJ?"

"Dave," answered Hotch.

Don smiled. "I don't wanna even know how he did that," he said. He knew that David Rossi can be manipulative when he wanted to be.

Hotch just huffed and remained quiet. They ate in companionable silence before Don asked, "So, what do you want to do?"

"Well, I promised Jack I would get him some souvenirs and take pictures for him," answered Hotch, "so I'm pretty much at your mercy the next week."

Don gave him a mischievous grin before replying, "This is going to be good."

Hotch opened his mouth to retort when Don's phone rang. He answered it and listened before hanging up. "Hawkes got the results back. We have our guy. I'm going to drop you off at the station before I go get him," he told Hotch. The older man just nodded as they finished their food.

* * *

While Don was gone, Hotch just hung around the station for the rest of the afternoon. It was early evening when his brother found him. "We got a confession. He's getting booked now."

"Good job," Hotch congratulated.

"Thanks," said Don. "To celebrate this, and your visit, the gang, you, and I are going to go get some drinks and shoot some pool," he told him.

"Sounds like fun," said Hotch as he followed Don out the door, ready for his vacation.


	3. Swim Day

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _CSI: NY_ or _Criminal Minds_. They belong to their own groupies.

**Summary:** Don is visiting his nephew when Aaron gets called out on a case. What does uncle and nephew do on a hot summer day?

* * *

Don Flack always enjoyed the summer months. Well, most of the time – in the city, everyone tended to get a bit crazier when the temperature goes up. But, for the next two weeks, he was not going to worry about any of that. He was spending the next two weeks with his nephew while his brother worried about his job without having to worry about his son. "Alright, Jack, how about we go to the pool?" he asked as the four-year-old finished up his breakfast. Aaron had already left for work, leaving the two to fend for themselves.

The little boy's face practically lit up as he asked excitedly, "Can we?"

"May we," Don corrected, "and yes, we may. Your father is going to be working late, so we have the whole day to ourselves. So go get ready to leave." He smiled as he watched his nephew literally threw himself from the chair and ran to his room. He finished washing the dishes; but before he could get ready himself, his phone rang. "Flack," he responded as he normally did.

"_You're on vacation,"_ said Aaron.

"Yeah, well, old habits die hard," retorted Don as he entered his bedroom.

"_So what are you guys doing today?"_

"We're off to the pool."

"_Sounds like fun."_ Aaron said forlornly.

Don sighed. He just knew that his older brother was going to spring something on him. "Okay, spill it. You have that tone of voice that tells me that something's up," he ordered.

It was then Aaron's turn to sigh. _"We have a case in Honolulu where there is a possibility of finding the victims alive. We're leaving in an hour,"_ he explained.

"And you want me to watch Jack for a few days? No problem. Just find those people," he reassured as his nephew came into his bedroom. "Here, talk to Jack for a moment while I change into my suit," he said as he handed the phone to Jack. As the little boy excitedly told his father about his upcoming adventure, Don quickly changed into blue-and-white striped trunks and a white polo shirt.

He walked out of the bathroom to hear Jack say, "I love you, Daddy. See you soon!" He then handed his phone back to his uncle and walk out of the room, Don right behind him.

"You leaving?" he asked Aaron.

"_The plane's ready. I'll see you in a couple of days."_

"Good luck," said Don as he hung up the phone. He then looked down at his nephew and said, "Looks like it's just you and me for the next couple days, little man."

"We still going swimming, Uncle Donnie?" asked Jack.

Don just groaned. He hated it when Jack called him that. Aaron got Jack into calling him that. Aaron thought it was funny; but Don just did not like it. "Yeah, we are, little man. You ready?" he asked.

"Yep!" came the answer. Don grabbed a cooler and put in some water bottles and deli sandwiches. He and his nephew then left the apartment and left for their day of fun.

* * *

"Uncle Donnie!" squealed Jack as Don picked him up and pulled him gently back into the water with him. They have been at the pool for a couple of hours, and Don can tell that the little boy was getting tired.

"Alright, little man, time to get out," said Don. Seeing his nephew's sad expression, he said, "We may come back tomorrow. But right now, we need to get out and into some shade before the heat really gets to us." Jack nodded and let Don pull him out. They both dried off and left the pool area. Don drove them to a small park and they ate their lunch.

"When is Daddy coming back?" asked Jack as he ate his sandwich.

"A couple of days. He'll be back," he assured the little boy. Don knew that Jack tended to have a hard time with Aaron having to travel; but Jessica told him that it was getting a bit easier, especially since Aaron called him every night. So he should be expecting a call tonight. "So, you enjoying your summer?" he asked.

"Yep! But I am ready for preschool," Jack said. "I want to learn new things; and maybe someday I will be able to help you and Daddy."

Don smiled. "I have no doubt about that, little man. But what do you say we head inside and get cooled off?" he asked. The little boy nodded earnestly and Don led him back to the car.

* * *

It was a really hot summer day. Hotter than Don had ever experienced. _Okay, summer is suppose to be hot, but not _this_ hot_, he thought. He was now happy that he made the right decision on getting them inside. He did _not_ want to explain to Aaron why Jack was in the hospital.

Right now, they were eating chocolate ice cream while watching _Toy Story 2_. Jack absolutely adore Woody and had proudly proclaimed that he wanted a Woody toy. "We'll see. Just keep up with your chores," said Don. After the movie was over, Don got Jack ready for bed when the phone rang. Seeing that it was Aaron, he answered with, "Hey! How's Hawaii? Is it as hot as it is here?"

"_Not too bad. How are you guys doing?"_ asked Aaron.

"You worried about us, big brother?"

"_I know you."_

All Don could do was laugh. "We're doing fine. We went swimming and had a small picnic in the park. Then we spent the evening watching _Toy Story 2 _and eating ice cream. Oh, and you owe him a Woody doll," he told him.

"_Thanks a lot,"_ muttered Aaron.

"Anytime," said Don. Feeling a tug on his pants, he looked down to see his brown-eyed nephew staring up at him. "Hold on. Someone wants to talk to you," he said before handing the phone to Jack.

"Hi, Daddy! It was a really hot day today," Jack said as he rambled on about his day. Don proceeded to wander off to finish locking up before he put Jack to bed.

He let Jack talk to his father for a half hour before the little boy handed the phone back to him. _"You're good with kids,"_ said Aaron.

"I love kids, it's just the women that have a problem with me," amended Don. "The case going well?"

"_Not as well as we hoped. But we have a lead that Morgan is working on."_

"He'll find something."

"_No doubt there. Well, get some sleep, 'cause Jack may be a handful tomorrow,"_ recommended Aaron, a hint of mischief evident in his voice.

Don frowned. "What did you do?" he demanded.

"_You'll find out tomorrow,"_ replied his older brother. _"Goodnight."_

"Goodnight," repeated Don as he hung up. Why did he have a feeling that tomorrow was going to be trouble?


End file.
